Saturday, May 08, 2010

No Holds Barred: Roger Gracie

(Photo by Eddie Goldman/No Holds Barred)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with one of the top practitioners in the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, who is now also starting to make his mark in mixed martial arts, Roger Gracie.

The accomplishments of Roger Gracie in BJJ and grappling have been historic. He has won the Mundials, the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, six times at his own weight and twice in the open weight division. In his most recent win there, in 2009, he submitted all of his opponents in both the super heavyweight and open weight divisions by a choke from the mount. He also took first place in both the 98 kg and absolute divisions at the 2005 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship by submitting all eight opponents.

In addition, he runs the Roger Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in London in the U.K.

Like so many other members of the legendary Gracie family, Roger Gracie has been making the transition to mixed martial arts. He is presently 2-0 in MMA, having won fights with mixed martial arts veterans Ron Waterman in 2006 and Yuki Kondo in 2008, both by submission. He has recently signed to fight in Strikeforce, and will make his American and Strikeforce debut May 15 when he fights former UFC heavyweight champion and two-time NCAA wrestling champion Kevin Randleman in St. Louis, Missouri, in a light heavyweight bout. This card will be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime.

We spoke with Roger Gracie Thursday evening at the New York academy of his cousin, Renzo Gracie, where he is training for this fight with Kevin Randleman. We discussed how he is making this transition to mixed martial arts, his approach to fighting Kevin Randleman, and his plans to continue competing in BJJ while fighting in MMA. We analyzed his two previous mixed martial arts fights, and discussed why now he plans to be devoting more attention to fighting. He also explained why he has only fought twice in MMA until now. We discussed the role of grappling in mixed martial arts, why fighters from jiu-jitsu should stick with jiu-jitsu more than they have been doing, and how he does not plan to abandon this art to "entertain" people. He explained why having the Gracie name does not add pressure on him, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Friday, May 07, 2010

No Holds Barred: Chris Thomas Previews Weekend Boxing and MMA Fights

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the top fights of this coming weekend with our colleague and correspondent Chris Thomas.

We are both looking forward to the junior middleweight fight between perhaps the most talented avoided man in boxing, Paul Williams (38-1, 27 KOs), and the tough Kermit Cintron (32-2-1, 28 KOs), which takes place Saturday, May 8, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. That will be televised live in the U.S. on HBO, along with the replay of the May 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley fight.

We also discussed the Maximum Fighting 25: Vindication mixed martial arts show at the Edmonton Expo Centre at Northlands in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which will be held Friday, May 7, and televised on HDNet. And we even discussed one of Chris's favorite fighters, the unbeaten Lyoto Machida, who has a rematch with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua this Saturday on a UFC pay-per-view, following a controversial unanimous decision victory for Machida over Rua last October. Chris said he will be watching this show as Machida has successfully adapted karate for mixed martial arts. Eddie noted that he will be watching the boxing on HBO.

In addition, we also discussed the need for the various bodies which regulate combat sports to adopt the protocols of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) instead of the inadequate drug testing currently conducted by the athletic commissions in North America. We analyzed why it would be much better for his career if mixed martial arts fighter Jake Shields stayed with Strikeforce. Plus, we touched on the Strikeforce and Shine Fights mixed martial arts cards coming up May 15, the continuing problems with the pay-per-view and pay TV business models so common in the combat sports, and more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Thursday, May 06, 2010

MySpace Posts $150M Loss; Murdoch Cites "Big Mistakes"

MySpace is falling deeper into the red, and not because it was recently May Day. Numerous news reports quote the latest loss being US$150 million for the first quarter of 2010 (the third quarter of their fiscal year).

On a conference call with investors, News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch mentioned unspecified "big mistakes", presumably with the purchase and management of MySpace, but offered only vague assurances about "new features" being introduced, mainly involving music.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

No Holds Barred: Scott Coker of Strikeforce

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Scott Coker, the CEO of the Strikeforce mixed martial arts promotion.

We spoke Wednesday afternoon, beginning by discussing the very busy schedule Strikeforce has with notable cards May 15 in St. Louis, May 21 in Portland, Oregon, June 16 in Los Angeles, and a co-promotion with M-1 Global June 26 in San Jose, California, featuring the top heavyweight and pound-for-pound mixed martial arts fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. All of those cards will be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime. We also got an update as of Wednesday afternoon about when we would know the status of the May 15 Roger Gracie-Kevin Randleman fight, which may be changed due to a medical problem facing Randleman.

In addition, we discussed the issue of what anti-doping measures should be taken in combat sports, the delay of the return of Fedor from April to June during the M-1 Global-Strikeforce negotiations, the postfight brawl on the April 17 Strikeforce show on CBS and when suspensions will likely be handed down by the Tennessee Athletic Commission, where Strikeforce may recruit new fighters, the overall state of Strikeforce, and more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Monday, May 03, 2010

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again cuts through all the rubbish by commenting on the dominating win by Floyd Mayweather Jr. over Shane Mosley, what the state-of-the-art drug testing used for this fight showed, the real story behind the run for Congress in the Philippines by Manny Pacquiao, and the sleeper fight scheduled for this Saturday, May 8, between Paul Williams and Kermit Cintron.

This past Saturday, May 1, Floyd Mayweather Jr. made believers out of many of those skeptical about his exceptional boxing skills by thoroughly dominating another future Hall of Fame fighter, Shane Mosley, with a lopsided unanimous decision. We analyze the key aspects and moments of this welterweight fight, which saw Mayweather run his unbeaten streak to 41 fights. We also discuss what this means for the 38-year-old Mosley. And we read a commentary by Dr. Margaret Goodman, a neurologist, the former ringside physician and head of the Medical Advisory Board of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and the medical correspondent on No Holds Barred, on what the drug-testing in this fight showed.

Just about everyone wants to see Mayweather fight Manny Pacquiao next, but Pacquiao and his camp have thus far refused the calls by Mayweather for Olympic-style drug testing following the protocols of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to create a level playing field. We discuss why the various bodies regulating the combat sports of boxing and mixed martial arts must adopt the WADA protocols, at least in major fights.

We also examine the election campaign Manny Pacquiao is waging for Congress in the Philippines, and with whom he has allied, presidential candidate Manny Villar Jr. of the rightist Nacionalista Party. The election will be held May 10.

According to a report just released by the Yankee Group, a Boston-based consulting firm, "in the next 12 months, 1 in 8 consumers will cut or reduce their pay TV service and get their video elsewhere." We discuss how this is more evidence that the business model of sports like boxing, which is so heavily dependent on revenues from premium and pay-per-view television, is being outstripped by the growth of technology.

This coming Saturday, May 8, however, there should be a good fight on HBO in the U.S. between top junior middleweights Paul Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) and Kermit Cintron (32-2-1, 28 KOs), at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. With all the attention given to Mayweather-Mosley, which will be replayed as part of this telecast, this fight is not getting the attention it deserves.

We spoke with both Paul Williams and Kermit Cintron on a media conference call Monday to learn how they each expect to win this fight. We also got the comments of George Peterson, who trains Williams, about why his fighter is so special, and about whether or not his camp would agree to Olympic-style drug testing.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.